Work on St. Patrick's bell tower to resume Wednesday

WATERVLIET -- Work to demolish the bell tower of the former St. Patrick's Church will resume on Wednesday with the aide of a large crane, according to a statement released by Albany developer Nigro Companies.

The statement continues: "Sections of the bell tower will be carefully removed in multiple phases until completion. Crews will continue additional site work on Tuesday. The project is being undertaken in a deliberate, step-by-step manner to ensure the safety of the surrounding community and to minimize the impact of the work to the greatest practical extent."

Work at the 1890 former Roman Catholic church was delayed multiple times last week when cables being used to pull the tower apart kept snapping. Aside from those setbacks, progress was still made in taking down the 137-foot tower last week. And, prior to that, the majority of the church -- which could once seat about 1,000 people -- has razed along with the rear boiler house.

Following the completion of the tower demolition, Nigro officials had said previously that the adjacent rectory would be taken down next and then the former school on the 3.5-acre property. Eventually, the six row houses on 23rd Street area of the site will also be demolished to make way for a nearly 40,000-square-foot Price Chopper supermarket which will take the place of an older Price Chopper a few blocks away.

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Two smaller commercial buildings will also be constructed on the 19th Street portion of the lot.